Process of producing crimped yarn for use in house furnishing fabrics



PR. WHIT HOUSE FURNISHING FABRICS Sept. 3, 1963 AKER 3,102,322

PROCESS OF RODUCING CRIMPED YARN FOR USE IN Filed Aug 14 1961 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Sept. 3, 1963 R. WHITAKER 3,102,322

PROCESS OF PRODUCING CRIMPED YARN FOR USE IN HOUSE FURNISHING FABRICS Flled Aug 14, 1961 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORN EYS m fia/122% 7 Sept. 3, 1963 R. WHITAKER 3,102,322

' PROCESS OF PRODUCING CRIMPED YARN FOR USE IN HOUSE FURNISHING FABRICS s Sheets-Sh eet 3 Filed Aug. 14. 1961 claims.- I

l A the, invention;

still undyed or in the gregel t Patented Sept. 3, 1963 Y7 PROCESS PRODUCING lCRIMPED YARN FoR USE IN HOUSE FURNISHING FABRICS if Ralph .Whitaker, Philadelphia, Pa., assignorm FreqWhia alter; Company, Philadelphia,"la., a c orporahon of Pennsylvania" H Filed Aug. 14,1?61, Ser. No. 131,402

' Carpets. and upholstery fabricsjarereferred' to herein fas housefurnishing fabrics.

thermoplastic synthetic fiber at reduced expense and with greater.pernianenceofthe crimpf'l A further purposdis to obtain variegated dyeingefiects in the yarnso as to secure at reasonable expense heather,

. cmottle d, nub and variegated coloring era crimp'ed yarn front continuous filament multifilament thermoplastic textile fibers. v 1 p Afurther purpose is to knit the yarn into a unravelable prefabric, preferably inttibular prefabr-ic, to crimp the prefabric by forcing itthro'ugh astulferf crimp box, to heatset the crimp inan autoclave, to unravel the 'pre-.

fabric yarn';tofopen'op and flhfi theyarny and then desir ably .tto produce ahouse furnishing fabric in which. the

ya forms theface nput; or to produce clothing.

U i States n Oflfice T A purposeof the invention. is to obtain a very lofty Y Qcriinped yarn front rnultifilamentg continuous filament" the top for convenience.

the .prefabric of the inVent-ionJ I The color is actually applied on the lower side of the fabric but is shown on FIGURES is a fragmentary perspective of the prefabric after printing with dye in localized areas in accordance with FIGURE .4.

FIGURE 6 is a diagrammatic central longitudinal section of afstufier crimp box employed in processing' the prefabric ofthe invention. f

FIGURE 7 is a front elevation of an autoclave showinghea't settingof crimp and of dye according to the invention. r v 1 FIGURE 8 is a diagrammatic central longitudinal sectionrof a continuous autoclave for use in heatsetting the prefab'ric of r the invention to set thecriinpfand per rnissibly also set the'dye. v

FIGURE 9 is 'a fragmentary perspective showing the prefabric after crimpin gsand heat setting and still in the FIGURE 10 is a fragmentary perspective of the prefabric which has been printedaccording to FIGURE 4 and then passed through the stutter; crimp box and heat set.

. FIGURE 11 is a diagrammatic elevation showingthe opening up of the unravelled yarn to fiuif it 7 FIGURE 12, is a side elevation of a short section of the criniped yarn of FIGURE 9 after opening'np accordingtotF-IGUREdIg I v FIGURE 13 is a side elevation of a short section of crimped and dyed yarnaccording to FIGURE 10 after A further purpose is to apply dye. to lo'calizedareasof the prefabricbefor'e it is criniped andto heat set thefdye in the autoclave while heatset-ting -the L A funther purpose is toperinit control of tlie crirnp 'further purposeis to eliminate linin g eiiects carpet at the stripes or localized aieas by unravelling the prefabric and then opening up and flufting the yarn, sons to i i I createwide distribution of the diiferent colors and so as toflcreate moref gradual gradation from one color'to another; along the length of the yarn. i I

further purpose-is to applyfl thecolor in. localized areas toconform with a pattern which is to be formed on the-face of the carpetor upholstery fabric or clothing.

Furtherpurposes appear in the specification and in the Inthedrawings l have choser'ito illustrate-a fewi only [of the mechanisms whiclil'may be'employed in carryingout the process of the invention.

FIGURE -1is a fragmentary perspective of yarnwhich may be used in present invention.

FIGURE la is a fragmentary perspective of twisted ,y arnwhich may be employed in'the'invention.

FIGURE 2 is a face, view ofatknitte'd flat prefabric i illustrating the knitting of a prefabric in accordance with EIGURE 3 in; fragmentary perspective showing. the

' knitted prefabric produced according to FIGURE 2, and.

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary perspective showing the opening up according to. FIGUREll. I

FIGURE 14 is :a diagrammatic longitudinal section ing the yarn of the invention. Descri'bing'in"illustration but not in limitation and referring to the drawings; 1'

showing a pile fabric, suit-ably a tufted carpet, employi V arious efforts; havebeen Inadein the past to produce by Change of'the tension emplbyed i k i i "fabric;

has heretofore been produced in an etfort to obtain satisfactory crimp by knitting the nylon yarn into a prefabric,

placing the knitted prefabric in an autoclave and subjecting it to stearn at elevated temperatureand' then 1111-' ravelling and opening up the yarn. The quality (and charactor of the crimp obtained in this way has not always been desirable, particularly because of the regularity, and the tendency of the crimp to be too fine and not sufiiciently pronounced.

. I have discovered that greatly improvedkcrimp. can be obtained and that it is. more persistent when the contjtinuous filament Inulti lilarnent thermoplastic yarn such as nylon is knitted into an unravelable prefabric and that prefiabric is fed through a stuffer crimp box, which superimposes on the fab r'ic itself independently of: the knitted" loops a macroecrirnp which adds to what may be called I themicro-crimp of the loops themselves. Steam is desirably introduced in the stuffer crimp box at a temperature of between 180? and 270 ,F., preferably about 200 F. 0. flu tension is heat set in'an autoclave. 1 The prefabric is then "unravelled to. produce cr irnped yarn, and the crimped yarn is opened up or fluffed. It isf-then available 'par- Then the crimped knitted prefabric while freefrom ticu'lar-ly foruse in the face or pile of ahouse'iurnishing fabric such as an upholsteryfabric for a carpet or rug,

' especially a tufted carpet, or in clothing.

"printing of oolor'in stripes or other localized areas "on V The invention canto advantage be employed byldyeing :theknitted prefabric and setting the dyewhile heat setting the crimp. Whilefdyeing of the entireprefabric to a uniform-colon may be employed, the invention'is to best advantage used in connection with printing of the pre fabric prior to introduction into the stutter crimp box with a plurality of localized areas of different colors such as stripes, splotches or dots, the dye then being set by the heat setting in the autoclave.

The invention lends itself to giving improved coverage of the face of a fabric, reducing the tendency for lining effects to be visible when the fabric is shown in a large expanse on the floor or wall. The printing of localized areas also produces a yarn which has softened gradations or zones of demarcation between different colored areas and can produce very desirable heather, nub or slub effects. 1

The invention may also be applied to produce coloring in the yarn which will form a pattern on the face of the final carpet or upholstery.

The yarn of the invention is extremely lofty, has an improved face coverage, improved optical properties and a softer feel. The invention may be applied to yarn which has been previously textured or bulked by some other process if desired.

Considering now the invention in detail, I employ in making yarn according to the present invention multifilament continuous filament thermoplastic synthetic yarn. Nylon (linear polyamide) of any of the types is suitable. Other thermoplastic synthetic fibers may be used such as acrylic (Orlon, acrylan) and modified acrylic. The yarn should be of a size of 50 to 10,000 denier in the yarn, preferably 500 to 4500 denier. The number of filaments will be at least and preferably at least 100. The individual continuous filaments are of a size between 1.5 and 30 denier and preferably between 1.5 and 22 denier.

The original yarn will have a twist of from O to 6 turns per inch, preferably A to 3 turns per inch, or it may be effectively without twist.

The yarn in FIGURE 1 is without twist and the yarn 20 in FIGURE 1a has a twist as above described.

The yarn above referred to is first knitted into a knitted prefabrie 21, preferably a tubular prefabric but permissibly a strip prefabric, having loops 22 as shown in FIG- URE 2, which illustrates a weft knitted flat tubular fabric, in which each loop 22 in the body of the fabric is controlled "by engagement with a loop at each side. When the fabric is later heat set, this tends to provide effective control of the micro-crimp, and avoids the possibility that fiat spots might occur.

The knitting is conducted on a suitable knitting machine and it will be understood that the tension in the knitting can be varied to change the crimp which will ultimately be obtained.

It is not important in the invention whether the prefabric is flat or ribbed, but it should preferably be a tube.

It will also be evident that the crimp can be controlled by varying the number of stitches per inch and the gage of the knitting machine. After the prefabric is knitted, it may be used white or grege without dyeing, although in the preferred embodiment of the invention the prefabric 21 as shown in FIGURE 4 will be locally printed to apply stripes, dots or other localized areas of different colors, preferably at an angle to the direction in which the yarn in the prefabric extends, but permissibly in the same direction.

In FIGURE 4 I show the fabric 21 in the form of a tube moving in the direction of the arrow through a plurality of printing or padding stations 23 and 23', each applying a different color. As shown, each Vigoureux printer includes a dye trough 24, a pickup roll 25 entering the dye trough, a takeoff roll 26 engaging the top of the pickup roll and the bottom of the fabric and a printing roll 27 above the fabric having projections 28 which follow a certain contour and determine the location of the application of the dye to the prefabric by pressing against the resilient takeoff roll 26.

It will be understood that to print both sides of the tubular prefabric it will suitably be run through twice and the pattern of different colors shown at 30 and 31 is really on the bottom of the fabric where it is a tube and is only illustrated on the top for convenience in showing what happens.

The individual stripes or other localized areas of color may or may not be adjoining, and if desired there may be natural or white areas left unprinted between the individual stripes or splotchcs. It will be evident that the color may be applied by any suitable equipment.

It will be evident that color can be superimposed if desired and Where it is superimposed the ultimate color will be the result of the superimposition.

A very convenient manner of applying the dye is the Vigoureux type of printing machine or the warp intaglio printing machine or the air brush. 7

The knitted prefabric whether it is white, as in FIG- URE 3, or dyed, as in FIGURE 5, is next crimped by passing it through a stuffer crimp box as shown in FIG- URE 6. The crimp box is intended to be of a conventional type, for example as shown in Pfau and Rainard US. Patent No. 2,575,833, granted November 20, 1951, for Method of Crimping Textile Fibers. 'Ihe prefabric 21 passes over guide roll 32 between suitably driven integearcd feed rolls 33 into the throat 34 of stutter crimp box 35 having a progressively widening crimping chamber 36. The feed rolls are resiliently urged together by adjustable spring mechanism 37.

Steam and water are preferably introduced into the crimp box through piping 38. At the bottom the crimp box has a discharge door '40 hinged at 41 and weighted or biased toward closure by weighting system 42. The crimp box suitably subjects the knitted prefabric to a temperature in the range between and 270 F., preferably about 200 F. The time in the crimp box is usually from one second to one minute.

'From the stuffer crimp box of FIGURE 6, the knitted prefabric is taken to an autoclave where it is heat set. FIGURE 7 shows an autoclave 43 having a door 44 and a carrier 45 on which a pile of untensioned or relaxed orimped prefabric 46 is placed for treatment. Steam is suitably introduced into the autoclave and a temperature of 180 to 270 F. is obtained for a time of treatment of from 1 to 30 minutes. The heat setting causes the nylon or other synthetic fiber to set the microcrimps produced by the knitted loops and also the macrocrimps produced by the stuffer crimp box, accompanied by pronounced shrinkage which renders the yarn subsequently more stable.

It the knitted prefabric has been piece dyed or if it has been printed, the heat setting will also set the dye in the same operation. in the case of piece dyeing, however, this is preferably done after crimping.

While a batch type autoclave may be used as shown in FIGURE 7, a continuous heat setting autoclave may be employed as shown in FIGURE 8, comprising a pressure chamber 47 having a tight cover 48 having a sealed inlet opening for the prefabric at 50, feed rolls for carrying the prefabric at 51, and sealed outlet opening for the prefabric at 52. Steam is admitted through pipes 53 into the autoclave and maintains a temperature of 180 to 270 F. It will be understood, of course, that suitable vestibules may be used at 50 and 52 to protect against leakage.

It will, of course, be evident that if desired the dyed prefabric can be scoured and dried.

FIGURE 9 shows the prefabric 21 which has been cri-rnped and heat set and has numerous crinkly areas or folds 54. FIGURE '10 illustrates the same crimped and heat set prefabric .21 with the wrinkles or seams 54 applied by the crimp box, but also with various colored areas 55 applied as by printing in FIGURE 4.

In either case the crimped and heat set knitted prefabric is unravelled to produce a yarn 56. It is important that the prefabric be capable of unravelling. For this purpose single needle knitting is preferred. The yarn is next opened up or fluffed preferably as suggested in FIGURE 11 by passing it over a corner or edge 57,

mechanism. It .f flhe" result is a et,ifdesire d;-'" t, n r

. The-final-yain-iswound on cones or tubes and is used .in tufting knitting or weaving, to form the pile -face 60 fofa pile fabric til-which has a suitable backingfdl, or to v, Thebrownprinting or 'dyeing composition-is as follows: H t I Irgalan Brown 2RL (Prototype w n Acid Brown 45) Ethylene glycol i in a 4%, inch diameter cylinder. Ihe results are similar to Examplel.

i eonn eotionj'with any spitablelmanipulating on windingd The yarn is quite l oftyithe effect of the opening hite or grege yarn 58 or a yarn with ".yarious colored areas along itsklengthas shown at 58' Lin FIGURES 1'2 and 13, respectively. This y m-1113s j. microcrimps but italso has a generally over-all macro crimp, Which rnakes ditferentfareas respond differently in ajma-nner very desirable in producing house. furnishing ffab-rics! i causing itfto increase to several times its initial' diameteri l Before. actual use in thepi-lebf a carpet, rugor up- ,hqlstery -fabrie,;-the ya rn may betwisted to achieve a tWi St fOI from O toot-urns. per inch andpreferably from to;3 turns per inch in the single and it may, if'dew j,sirable, be plied; The twist in .th e .ply can, also be" heat m clothin g.

was. withouttwis-fhaving a Size of 2100 denier in lithe-yarn, consisting of continuous filament type 6 nylon "oi l5 ldenierpis knitted on a circular knitting'machine' haying IOgage butt needles, 54 needles in ltheciiicle, 9 V stitches; per inch in width and. 10 courses per inch in length, toproduce a 4 inch diametercylinder,"

lIheresulting prefabric is a tube. I I a The knitted tube is printed on both sides with diagonal v stripes off green andflbrown, the stripes running at a slightfian'gle and crossing the tube about every foot.

41.7 grams per liter. 33.3 cc. per' liter. 5 16.7 grams per liter.

Balance.

Gum thickener (Keltex) A 'green printing or dyeing formula is used asdollowsi Lanasyn Brilliant Green BL "Pat. 1

j,.-.(Prototype Acid Green 40) 8.3 grams per liter.

Ethylene; glycol 33.3 cc. per liter. I ,Gum thickener (Keltex) 16.7 grams liter.

Water 1 Balance.

it 1 21 liters of the green strip printing composition is v us'ed for. -6 pounds of the nylon tube.

The fabric thus printed is passed through the stutter v crimp box ofFIGURE 6 maintained at a temperature of 200 'F.,uthe time taken 'for the prefabric to go through I the crimp box being approximately 3 seconds.

The prei-abric is then placed in the autoclave of FIG- U URE7 inrelaxed condition and subjected'to" a tempeuature of 210 F. in the presence of steam for 10* minutes.

Theprefabric is then removed from the autoclave,

gscoured, dried and unravell e d. The unravelled yarn is then run over three corners in succession, twisted to one j turn per inch, plied into 3-ply yarn and twisted one turn perinch in the ply; 1 I The yarn is then made into a tufted fabric of FIGURE 14 having'uncut pile face loops. i

, A' beautifullvariegated efiect with excellent yarncoverage is obtained. I I l T I Example 11 "The process of Example is carried out exceptthat the knitting machine is a 12 gage, 108 needle knitting machine liters o f the brown printing formula is used to pad "156 pounds of the nylon knitted tube.

Cibalan Yellow FGL Capacyl Brown RD ....1

6 Example III Thepr'ocedure of- Example 1 is carried out except that the yarn is 4200 denier, 15 denier perfilament, havinga twist of 1 turn per inch. i i I l After the prefabric i-s criinped, heat set, unravelled and opened, the yarn is twisted toa twist of 1 turn per inch in theopposite direction and plied into 3 plies beforemaking the carpet as in FIGURE 14. i l ExamplelV The procedure of each of the above examples is applicable also'without dyeing to obtain yarn in the white. Various localized dyesrnay be used, including Neutral PremetalizedDyes, A'cid'Premetalized Dyes, and Pigment Textile. Printing Color-s. I 1

Suitableexamples of dyes for ue in the examples are:

Cap-acyl Red B Lanasyn Red 2GL Pat. Cibalan Bordeaux GRL- Lanasyn Brilliant vBlue G (Prototype Acid Blue 127) 'Irgalan Grey BL (Prototype Acid Black 58) Lanasyn Brilliant Green BL Pat. (Prototype Acid Green 40) Capracyl Yellow 3RD (Prototype Acid Orange 64) 3 (Prototype Acid Brown 1 Lanasyn Brown RL A P.A.F. (Prototype Acid Brown 28) Oapracyl Blue G (Prototype Acid Blue v165) Lanasyn Bordeaux RL Pat. -L (Prototype Acid Red 217) 'In view of my invention and disclosure, variations and modifications to meet individual whim orparticular need WilldOlllltlGSS become evident to others skilled in the art,

to obtain all or part of the benefits of my invention with out copyingthe process shown, and I, therefore, claim all such insofar as they fall within the reasonable spirit and scope of my claims.

Having thus described my invention What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

L 1. The process of making an improved fabric, which comprises starting with yarn of multifilament continuous filament thermoplastic synthetic fiber having a fiber size between 1.5 and 30 denier and a yarn size between 50 and 10,000.,denier, and knitting this yarn into a prefabric and progressing the prefabric longitudinally through a stutter crimp box and in the crimp box crimping the prefabric and superimposing prefabric crimps on the loop dormanon of the knitted prefiabric, heat setting the prefabric in an autoclave in the presence of steam at a temperature between and 270 F. to set both the loops in the prefabric and the crimps formed in the crimp box, unravellingtheprefabric toproduce crimped yarn which contains both crrmps due to the loops in the prefabric and crimps formedin the stufiing box both superimposed on the yarn,

and producing a fabric in which the yarn forms the face. 2. The process of claim 1, which comprises producing a house furnishing fabric iro m -th'e yarn.

t 3. The process of claim 1, which comprises subjecting the yarn in the crimp box to steam at a temperature between 180? and 270 F.

4. The process of making an improved fabri-c'which comprises knittingyarn into a prefabric, said yarn being composed of multifila'ment continuous filament thermoplastic synthetic fiber having a fiber size between 1.5 and 30 denier and a yarn size between 50 and lOgOOO denier,

(Prototype Acid Brown 19* I progressing said prefabric through a stuffer crimp box,

and there crimping the prefabric to superimpose crimps' on the fabric, subjecting the prefabric while crimped in the stuffer box to steam at a temperature between 180 and 270 F. to set the loops and to set the crimp in the fabric, unravelling the prefabric to form yarn which has crimps due to loops and crimps due to the action of the stutter box, and producing a fabric in which said yam forms the face.

5. The process of making an improved :fabric which comprises knitting yarn into a prefabiric and thus providing in the prefabric loops of the yarn, said yarn being composed of multifilament, continuous filament, thermoplastic synthetic fiber in said loops having a fiber size between 1.5 and 30 denier and a yarn size between 50 and 10,000 denier, progressing said prefabric through a stutter crimp box and there crimping the prefabric to superimpose crimps on said loops of said fiber in the yarn, subjecting said prefabric while said loops of the fiber of the yarn still have crimps of the stutter crimp box to steam at a temperature between 180 and 270 F. to set said loops of the fiber and crim-ps superimposed upon said loops of the fiber, unravelling the prefabin'c to form yarn which has crirnps due to loops and chimps due to the action of the stufier crimp box, and producing a fabric in which said yarn forms the face.

6. The process of making an improved fabric which comprises knitting yarn into a prefabric and thus providing in the prefabric loops of the yarn, said yarn being composed of rnultifilament, continuous filament, thermoplastic synthetic fiber in said loops having a fiber size 'between 1.5 and denier and a yarn size between and 10,000 denier, progressing said prefabric through a stutter crimp'box and there crimping the prefabric to superimpose orimps on said loops of said fiber in the yarn, subjecting said prefabri-c while said loops of the fiber of the yarn still have crimps of the stutter crimp box to steam at a temperature between and 270 F. to set said loops of the fiber and crimps superimposed upon said loops of the fiber, unravelling the prefabric to form yarn which has orimps due to loops and crimps due to the action of the stulfer crimp box, opening up the yarn to readjust the set fibers with respect to each other and fluff the yarn, and producing a fabric in which said yarn forms the face.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,601,451 Page June 24, 1952 2,768,092 Lawrence Oct. 23, 1956 2,790,208 Smith Apr. 30, 1957 2,950,521 Wheat etal Aug. 30, 1960 2,972,798 Stanley et a1, Feb. 28, 1961 3,012,303 Whitaker et al Dec. 12, 1961 FOREIGN PATENTS 214,285 Australia Mar. 24, 1958 396,219 Great Britain Aug. 3, 1933 

1. THE PROCESS OF MAKING AN IMPROVED FABRIC, WHICH COMPRISES STARTING WITH YARN OF MULTIFILAMENT CONTINUOUS FILAMENT THERMOPLASTIC SYNTHETIC FIBER HAVING A FIBER SIZE BETWEEN 1.5 AND 30 DENIER AND A YARN SIZE BETWEEN 50 AND 10,000 DENIER, AND KNITTING THIS YARN INTO A PREFABRIC AND PROGRESSING THE PREFABRIC LONGITUDINALLY THROUGH A STUFFER CRIMP BOX AND IN THE CRIMP BOX CRIMPING THE PREFABRIC AND SUPERIMPOSING PREFABRIC CRIMPS ON THE LOOP FORMATION OF THE KNITTED PREFABRIC, HEAT SETTING THE PREFABRIC IN AN AUTOCLAVE IN THE PRESENCE OF STEAM AT A TEMPERATURE BETWEEN 180* AND 270*F. TO SET BOTH THE LOOPS IN THE PREFABRIC AND THE CRIMPS FORMED IN THE CRIMP BOX, UNRAVELLING THE PREFABRIC TO PRODUCE CRIMPED YARN WHICH CONTAINS BOTH CRIMPS DUE TO THE LOOPS IN THE PREFABRIC AND CRIMPS FORMED IN THE STUFFING BOX BOTH SUPERIMPOSED ON THE YARN, AND PRODUCING A FABRIC IN WHICH THE YARN FORMS THE FACE. 